Chapter 17

Hazel

Our first full day at Hogwarts included the death, or near death, of one of our own and no one wanted the night to be as exciting. Although some homework had been distributed it, it would not be due until the next week and none of the demi gods actually planned to do it anyway. History of magic beginning in the dark ages can be a pretty dull class when you've actually met Hecate. It was decided that since Percy was to be water bound as per Dr Jennifer's orders, we would invite the inner circle, as we were now calling our close friends in Gryffindor, to join us by the pool for a relaxing evening.

Dinner itself was interesting for several reasons. First, all the other houses, especially Slytherin, kept staring at Percy as if their eyes could somehow make him as dead as they thought he was previously. Frankly, I didn't blame them. I saw him fall and there was no way a mortal, or a demi god, had any right to survive his injuries. Yet here he was, healed by love, magic, Jennifer, and Poseidon, ready to fight another day.

No one noticed the additional person with us, I suppose because they didn't really know us, and Bob didn't really stand out. The boys were still staring at Piper and Jennifer, the girls still at Jason and Percy. Well, as I said, everyone stared at Percy. wondering why his brains weren't still hanging out of his skull or his guts coming out of his abdomen.

Professor Dumbledore announced that the Ministry was joining us for dinner, but that turned out to be just one guy, the Minister of Magic himself. Percy and Annabeth found him to be mousey, weak and scared and from what I saw I had to agree. He seemed arrogant, but that was clearly compensation for shortcomings he felt in his life. He knew he wasn't really in charge and was terrified of the day that everyone else knew it as well.

Dumbledore did announce that the following Friday an old tradition would be renewed, that being a formal ball held at the opening of Quidditch season. The opening match would be between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Hermione suggested this would be a good first match to catch the basics of the game. Hufflepuff had been competitive in the House Cup the last several years, and had several players that Harry respected quite a bit. I decided we should start to organize our team soon as we would be playing Slytherin the following week.

Dinner was as delicious as it had been the night before. Tonight there were no speeches but the Minister did make the sort of remarks one might expect him to, study hard, prepare for owls (whatever that meant), follow the rules... when he said this he stared directly at us, and finally bring honor to our school and our roles as witches and wizards in British society.

Bob relished the food as though he had not eaten in years, and I guess he hadn't. He had been surviving on whatever he could find in Tartaurus for eons. If they served hot dogs and hamburgers it would have been a five star meal for him.

After dinner I thought we would all be going back to the pool for some reason, but Harry and a little boy named Colin had detention, and Jennifer, Bob, Annabeth and Percy went to the Astronomy Tower. They were joined by Dumbledore and spent an hour or two just looking at the stars. Percy later confided it was odd, Dumbledore spoke as though he had studied and learned the constellations, whereas Bob spoke as though he personally had met them all and told stories about each. Percy said the most interesting part was when Dumbledore pointed out Orion, Bob said Orion was a horrible little jackass who didn't deserve to have a constellation, and Percy reported to everyone's surprise that Reyna had killed him off the coast of Long Island three months earlier.

The pool was relaxing, but it wasn't a full blown party. Will, Nico, Jason, Frank and Leo swam, as did Piper who looked amazing in a candy apple red two piece that left a lot to be desired in terms of modesty. I was still getting used to this century. Ginny, Hermione and Ron sat at a table in their bath robes going over the history homework. I tried to help them but whenever I told them the truth about Hecate and her position in the Pantheon, well, they didn't want to hear that. In the magician's version of the history of the Pantheon, Hecate was instrumental in a lot of battles and events she wasn't actually at. Oh well.

Neville and Reyna were off by themselves, laughing and giggling. Neville had not struck me as one with the courage to approach Reyna but I was pleased to be wrong. He was quiet and appeared shy but earlier in the day had, in a moment of stress, summoned Hagrid's wagon which weighed enough that I could would have had trouble summoning it, so he had some inner strength whether he knew it or not. I wondered if he knew the girl he was hitting on commanded 500 or so of the finest Roman soldiers to ever take to the field in battles so epic they would be sung of for millenia to come he would have found her to be so approachable. Probably not. He was cute in a way, but tonight she was even more stunning than usual in a black one piece that set off her eternally tan skin and long black hair. Still, he was a really nice guy, and Reyna had gotten farther with making friends among the magicians than most of us. The rest of us they just seemed to be in awe of.

I decided to change that, so I went and sat with Hermione, Ginny and Ron again, this time to not talk history.

"So, are you excited about the ball?" I asked.

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess." Hermione said.

"Has Ron asked you already?" I asked, and truly I assumed that he had. They were always together and it was clear she thought of Harry, the only other guy in her life, like he was her brother.

"No. Ron, well, he is slow at asking. Last year he never did." She giggled.

"Ron Weasley! You didn't make Hermione go by herself!" I said.

"No, she went with Viktor Krum, the best Quidditch player in the world." Ginny said.

"Well, see Ron? Its like we say in America, 'you snooze, you loose!'"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I would like to go.." Ron started to say before I interrupted.

"Then its settled. Ask Hermione to the ball. Now." I said. Ginny and I waited to see what he would do, but Hermione spoke first.

"Its not the same if you pressure him!" Hermione said, defending Ron from me.

"I could get Piper to cast a spell, she's the daughter of Aphrodite ya know, and neither you nor he would know it, but my way is better. Its coercive, but at least the results are always honest. We know he's crazy about you, and you're quite fond of him. If he had just a tenth of the courage Neville has we would already be picking out dresses. Now, hurry up Ron, we have a lot of work to do."

"Well, the thing is, I don't really have a tux, and"

"Annabeth and Jennifer will solve that. Stop squirming and surrender. The quicker you do, the happier it will make both of you." I smiled and Ginny giggled.

Ron sighed in resignation. "Hermione, uh, the thing is,"

"Yes Ronald?" She said, now at last going along with it.

"UH, would you care to go to the ball with me?"

"Yes Ronald, I would like that very much, on one condition. You must dance with me. A lot. I found last year that I rather like it, and I suspect Neville will be busy this year."

"Uh, oh. Okay." He smiled then awkwardly turned toward me.

"Good enough?" He asked.

"Well, a kiss is probably out of the question, but you should probably hug her just so she knows it was a romantic request rather than a friendly one." I said.

"Wait! No, stop there. You did quite well Ron. I'm happy to go with you." Hermione smiled, mostly at myself and Ginny.

Ginny broke out laughing. "It really is about time!" She exclaimed.

Just then Harry came in, still in his school robes.

"Don't laugh, its your turn now." I said to Ginny as Harry sat with us. I gave him a great smile, then began. "Harry, Ron has just asked Hermione to the ball. She has accepted. Frankly, as beautiful and charming as she is, she, like your date, Ginny, could have any guy she wants. Don't you agree?"

"Well yeah, wait, my date?" He said, looking quizzically at first Ginny, then me.

"Yes, you're going to ask her, and ask her now, because you like her, we all know it, she adores you, and we all know that, and candidly, we have less than two weeks to determine what to wear and obtain it so we have to get the whole who is dating who thing out of the way sooner rather than later. Honestly, the quicker you agree, the better off we all are. Right Hermione?"

"Well, I mean, no one should be pressured to" Hermione said before I interrupted.

"Oh, there is no pressure, I'm just stating what everyone already knows, and, as I said earlier, I could get Piper to use her Aphrodite magic but my way is more honest. So, Harry, you should ask Ginny to the ball now. Else we will find her another date and you can go by yourself."

"Uh no, I mean I was going to ask, but I thought I should talk to Ron first." He said.

"Oh? Do you think Ron has any say in who I date?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, I mean, well, no, its just, well I... Ginny, will you go to the ball with me?" Harry finally spit out.

"I don't know. Maybe I should ask Hermione if its okay to date her little brother." She grinned.

"Hermione isn't my big sister, she's my friend! I, look, I didn't mean... I just didnt want Ron to think..."

"Yes." Ginny answered at last with a smile. "But I'll have to ask Ron." She laughed as Ron rolled his eyes.

It was then that the Astronomy tower crew came back with Dumbledore and Bob with them. Bob greeted all, then asked to be excused so he could get used to his new home. He left through a side door that I could have sworn was not there the day before when I first saw the pool. Apparently Leo had pinned a door to the Iapetus lodge so Bob and Jennifer could visit without the trouble of apparating.

Dumbledore joined us and asked how we were enjoying Hogwarts so far.

"Well, if we can keep Percy alive its really nice. Although Professor Umbridge is a problem."

"Oh? How so?"

"She's not teaching us to defend ourselves, she's not teaching us anything at all." Hermione said.

"There are many paths to wisdom, you of all people should know this Miss Grainger. I suggest you find another path to that which you seek."

"Well, the Americans have agreed to teach us some, but,"

"But?" Dumbledore asked.

"But, and I mean no disrespect, but all of their magic is geared towards killing the opponent. That seems contrary to the killing curse being an unforgivable curse."

"Ah, I see. Well, yes. Our American friends are particularly good at dispatching from this realm those persons who so desperately need to leave it, and I would urge you to learn all their techniques for soon will come a time when I fear you will be well served by them. But our library is full of spells, defensive and offensive, charms and jinxes, that you could learn and practice on your own time should you wish. I know you have taken advantage of our library over the years Miss Grainger, and I would urge you to continue to do so."

"Could we bring back the dueling club?" Ron asked, somewhat out of the blue.

"What is a dueling club?" I asked.

"Oh, second year we had a Defense teacher who was so worthless that by the end of the year everyone was hoping Harry would kill him like he did our first year one, but he, along with Snape, formed a dueling club. It only lasted one night, Harry scared the wits out of everyone, but it was actually somewhere that you could have practical practice with spells." Hermione answered.

"That is an interesting notion. I shall have to ponder on that." Dumbledore said.

I noticed that Harry was now holding the hand of Ginny, and stared at Hermione until she looked up, then I looked at their hands, back at her, and back again until her eyes followed mine. I hoped she would be happy, but I didn't expect...

"Harry! Whats wrong with your arm?"

"Huh? What? Oh, nothing." He said as he pulled his hand away and lowered his sleeve to cover it. I had not noticed as it looked like a scar and I've seen plenty of those.

"Let me see it Harry" Dumbledore said, and Harry reluctantly complied.

Along his arm were tiny rows of scars, each saying "I must not tell lies."

"Who did this to you Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Uh, I did, I mean, in detention, I had to write lines and the quill Umbridge gave me was hexed and it carved it into my arm. I didn't want to bother you with it what with the Order and all I know you have a lot on you. I figured I would just lay low in her class."

"Professor! She can't be allowed to torture the students! You must do something!" Hermione said.

"Normally I would fire her and give her the boot. The torture of students, even for disciplinary purposes, is not allowed. However, by order of the Minister, I am not allowed to fire Delores Umbridge, or even question her methods. The Minister seems to think I wish to build an army to seize his job. The only way she can leave is by her own volition."

"Ya don't say" Nico, who was at the edge of the pool beside us, said as he got out and walked to the exit, toweling himself dry on the way.

I didn't know what Nico had planned, but I guessed she would be gone within a week.